Esports Recap 2021: It has been a hard time for the esports scene around the world since the pandemic hit. Last year, many large international esports events had to be conducted online under strict supervision and no audience, like the League of Legends World Championship 2020. In some other cases, like The International 10 or Mobile Legends M2 World Championship, esports events got postponed to 2021.
As the conditions normalized in many parts of the world and travel restrictions eased, 2021 became a time for esports organizers to conduct their events. Today we will take a look at the top esports tournaments of 2021 that brought an impact not only to the game’s community but also attracted a lot of outside viewers.
The International 10 – DOTA 2
The first on the list will be the tournament that had the highest prize money for its participating teams. The International 10 boasted a massive prize pool of more than $40 million and was held from 7th till 17th October 2021. Eighteen teams had qualified from different regions around the world and fought to become the world champions of the DOTA 2 Pro Circuit.
The defending two-time champions, OG were unable to make a miracle as they got eliminated earlier during the main stage event. Yet surprisingly, it was another dark horse team from the Eastern Europe Qualifiers that outplayed all the juggernauts and favorites of the tournament. Even the perfect-looking PSG.LGD fell in front of Team Spirit who became the winners of The International 10 and walked away with total prize money of more than $18 million.
2021 World Championship – League of Legends
When it comes to MOBA popularity, it is League of Legends that has a much-pronounced image than other titles. Although its prize pools are not as extravagant as that of DOTA 2, the competition here is still as intensive and mind-blowing. This year’s Worlds 2021 was held in Reykjavik, Iceland from 5th October to 6th November.
It was a spectacular show as many unexpected twists and turns happened since the beginning of Group Stage. NA and Europe got crushed at the Playoffs by the Asian juggernauts. While most people picked Damwon, T1, or even RNG as their favorites, it was Edward Gaming who outshined everyone. The team was able to somehow drag on and reach the Grand Finals. There, they played on par with Damwon KIA and beat them against everyone’s expectations to become the Worlds 2021 champions. The viewership of the Grand Finals also broke records of the game and proves that the game is still at its peak.
Also Read: TOP 10 Most Popular Esports Events of 2021 by Peak Viewership
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
After the absence of a Major tournament in CS:GO for almost two years, fans witnessed competitive on-stage Counter-Strike at PGL Major Stockholm 2021. The best teams from around the world competed to make a statement as the esports scene for the game reopened.
The PGL Major Stockholm 2021 received a peak viewership of 2.74 million people which is the highest for any tournament under this game. PGL was also the beginning of the dominance of Natus Vincere on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive this year. From there on, it looked like s1mple and his teammates played on a different wavelength as they continued bulldozing teams under them in tournaments. There were only a few where they failed to perform in 2021. Still, it was the PGL Major Stockholm 2021 was where the resurgence began for Natus Vincere in CS:GO.
VALORANT Champions 2021 – VALORANT
Another FPS title was able to launch its first even major international stage event in 2021. Fans were able to witness the much-awaited VALORANT Champions Tour 2021 where the top teams from around the world competed to advance into the final tournament. Although the Berlin Masters was also quite popular, nothing came as close to the VALORANT Champions 2021 which was held between 1st to 12th December 2021.
The tournament had everything, from penalties for using in-game bugs, to dominant teams from North America getting thrashed by other newer teams from Southeast Asia, Brazil, or Latin America. KRU Esports was undoubtedly the dark horse here who narrowly missed the Grand Finals spot to Gambit Esports. Again, while everyone believed Gambit Esports to cruise the Grand Finals, as they did in Berlin Masters, the story was something else. Acend came back to shock Gambit and become the winners of the VALORANT Champions 2021.
M3 World Championship 2021 – Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
The mobile esports scene also saw a rapid rise in popularity among people. In the mobile MOBA segment, it was Mobile Legends: Bang Bang which gained massive audiences despite the stiff competition from rivals Arena of Valor and newcomer League of Legends: Wild Rift. Mobile Legends had already conducted the M2 World Championship of last year in the early months of 2021 with limited teams. Yet the Grand Finals of the event was an instant hit as Bren Esports had to battle it all out against Burmese Ghouls to clinch the victory. M3 was more of a hit because it went global this time. By organizing events in various parts of the world and inviting the winners from there, Mobile Legends got a more expansive worldwide audience. In the tournament, we saw some brilliant plays from teams foreign teams like Keyd Stars, Natus Vincere, Bedel, and the third-place dark horse BloodThirstyKings.
There were many upsets and the Southeast Asian teams soon realized that they did not carry a total advantage over the teams from other regions. Still, it was the matches between the SEA teams which attracted more viewership from the local countries. The upper bracket semi-finals between RRQ Hoshi and ONIC Philippines broke the peak viewership record from the M2 World Championship Grand Finals. Although it was a clean sweep from ONIC PH, the series raked in 3.19 million peak views. Blacklist International went on to become the winners of the M3 World Championship 2021.
Also Read: MLBB M3 World Championship 2021: Blacklist International clean sweep RRQ Hoshi with a 3-0
Esports Recap 2021: Competitive circuits that bounced back to deliver special performances for their fans
Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore – Free Fire
In the mobile Battle Royale genre, it was Free Fire who emerged as the overall winner against Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG: Mobile. Its World Series in Singapore was the first global event of the 2021 Free Fire Competitive Season and had a total prize pool of $2 million. It was organized by Garena and invited the 22 best teams from the 14 regional series that took place in the first half of 2021.
BOOOOOOOYAAAAAH da Phoenix Force!
Bermuda já começou daquele jeito: pegando fogo! Foram 11 abates pro time Tailandês que começou o dia com o pé direito!
Acompanhe o #FFWS ao vivo em:
🔴 https://t.co/ksfM6YhZc8
🟠 https://t.co/r2MhVT3Ho4 pic.twitter.com/qmts8D1lMo— Free Fire Esports Brasil – #LBFF (@FFesportsBR) May 30, 2021
Contrary to other parts of the world, mobile Battle Royales are hugely popular in Asia over their PC counterparts. This can be seen from the numbers of the Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore that reached a peak viewership of 5.4 million in Round 1. Although some teams from South Asia could not take part due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the fans from these places along with the others from around the world tuned in to watch the event and make it so hugely successful. Phoenix Force became the champions and walked away with $500,000 prize money from the total pool of $2 million.
Conclusion
From the success of all these esports tournaments, we can see that the love for esports has grown during the pandemic, despite the challenges that this industry has faced. It is all thanks to the support from fans and awesome gameplays from the players that have kept everyone entertained and excited for the future of esports.
